


Through the Smoke

by BarPurple



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Electronic Cigarettes, For Science!, Gen, John is a Saint, Quitting Smoking, Sherlock Holmes and Experiments, Smoking, Tea, Vaping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4860068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock experiments and this time John thinks its a good idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through the Smoke

John pushed the door to their flat open and blinked. He was pretty certain there had been, y’know a living room and stuff behind this door when he left for work that morning. He blinked rapidly, but the familiar sight of his armchair refused to appear, instead the thick white fog hung in front of him. He took a step back and realised that the murk was hanging three feet from the floor and he couldn’t smell burning.

John sighed and drew in a deep breath through his nose. The two quick sneezes took him by surprise, but at least cleared the sickly sweet cocktail of aromas from his sinuses. Not willing to step into the pea soup of perfumed smog just yet John called out to the one person who would be to blame for this strangeness.

“Sherlock! Are you in there?”

Under his breath John slowly counted to three. Probably in his Mind Palace then. 

“SHERLOCK!!”

His count reached two this time. The dreamy quality of the response confirmed the location of Sherlock’s attention and John wished that the mad bloody genius would leave a little brain power to focus on the surroundings of his transport.

“John. Oh. Hang on a moment. I just need to open a window.”

The world’s most patient flat mate dropped his chin on to his chest and tried not to chuckle as he heard Sherlock stumble over something.

“John? Could you wave the door back and forth a bit? A cross draft will aid the clearance of the room.”

He may have muttered to himself, just a little as he wafted the door to and fro. After a minute the chaos that passed for normal in 221B came into view. John squared his shoulders and marched directly to the kitchen, praying that the kettle was intact. 

Sherlock opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again as he deduced that John considered this a strong cuppa situation. His blogger wouldn’t be Irishing up his tea, because his jaw wasn’t twitching, but the set of his shoulders did mean that the teabag would be brewed to within an inch of its life. Moving with silent grace Sherlock whipped the pile of newspapers from John’s chair and shoved them hurriedly under the coffee table. He dropped into his own armchair and waited for the stressed doctor in the kitchen to accept the surrender of Tetley’s finest.

A few moments later John walked back into the living room armed with two mugs of tea. There was still a lingering haze, but the air quality was much improved. He handed Sherlock a mug without a word before settling himself in his chair. The world’s only consulting detective was twitching with impatience opposite him as he took a long sip of tea. Cradling the warm mug in both hands he finally said;

“Please tell me you didn’t increase the nicotine levels too much.”

Sherlock smiled, his honest, happy, I’ve got a new bag of thumbs smile.

“You observed that I’ve been experimenting with vaping liquids and based on your knowledge of my smoking addiction coupled with your obsession with my wellbeing you got right to the point. I’m impressed.”

John’s eyebrows jumped into his hairline, partly because that almost sounded like a compliment and partly to encourage Sherlock to tell him more about the experiment.

“All I was trying to do today was find my ideal combination of smoke density and colour, most vap liquids produce smoke that is far too thin to be satisfying.”

“That thick fog isn’t your goal is it?”

Sherlock waved a long fingered hand in a dismissive twirl. 

“No, I got distracted considering the next alteration I’ll need to make. The frankly disturbing flavours that some of these liquids boast as a selling point, bubble-gum, rhubarb and custard for pity’s sake. Banana and passion fruit are almost pleasant in comparison.”

“And that explains why the flat smelt like a fruit market had exploded in a brothel.”

Sherlock frowned a little as John’s description derailed his train of thought for a second, with a shake of his head he was back on track explaining the complex, (for John), chemistry behind creating the perfect vaping liquid. John nodded in the right places, while preparing a mental shopping list of his own. If this was the route Sherlock had to take to stop smoking actual cigarettes then John would do everything he could to make it work for him, but he knew from experience that there was always a little something Sherlock overlooked.

 

-x-

 

Two days later John and Sherlock bounded down the stairs from their flat and burst through Mrs Hudson’s front door.

“Did you never learn to knock? And what is that smell?”

“Sorry, Mrs H. Slight miscalculation with the strength of flavourings. Pop next door and have a sherry with Mrs Turner. We’ll air the place out.”

-x-

 

Five days after that Lestrade called at Baker Street to find Sherlock and John rolling around on the floor, fighting like toddlers, and shouting at the top of their lungs. Greg decided that shooting them with his phone would cause less paperwork than just shooting them. 

“That’s a toxic dose of nicotine you curly haired prat!”

“Maybe for a boring person but I’ve been smoking for years!”

-x-

 

The next day John was considering wearing a crash helmet in the flat as he was hit for the third time by a flying electronic fag.

“Sorry John. Why are these things so bloody bulky?”

“Stop trying to hold it like a cigarette maybe?”

-x-

 

Ten days later John and Sherlock were standing in the shelter of a tall hedge watching Lestrade load their freshly caught suspect into an ambulance. It was one of the easiest collars John had ever been a part of. The suspect had run around a corner into an alley and slammed headlong into the side of an unexpected white van. Sherlock was rather disappointed, which is why John thought the dramatic sigh was case related. When he glanced up at Sherlock he realised that the detective’s E-Cig was the cause of his ire.

“You forgot to charge it didn’t you?”

“Yes. This is a huge failing on the part of these things. At least if I ran out of cigarettes I could just buy more, or bum one from somebody. I can’t exactly ask if anyone has a battery I can borrow.”

John rubbed his ear as he reached into his coat pocket. Without a word he handed Sherlock a fully charged battery. Sherlock swapped out the dead one and dropped it into one of his own pockets. He took a long deep drag on his now functioning E-Cig and blew out a few smoke rings.

“I’d be lost without my blogger.”

“Too right.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on day ten of quitting smoking. It struck me that we've seen Sherlock use patches, but not any other forms of quitting aids. And from such randomness plot bunnies are born. Since I can't imagine Sherlock chewing gum I decided to let him try vaping.
> 
> Since I don't have a faithful blogger I have learned the hard way to carry spare batteries.


End file.
